1KANTIANISM AND UTILITIARINISM “Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end” The above quoted lines of Immanuel Kant from his famous work “Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals/On a Supposed Right to Lie Because of Philanthropic Concerns” forms the fulcrum round which most of the moral philosophy revolves. It is to be noted that Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was one of the major philosophers of not Germany but of the entire world (Wood). His theories related to morality and the “rightness or the wrongness” of any actionarestillin use and makemodernphilosophersstilltakethe helpof his philosophiestodevelopfurthertheoriesintherelevantfield(Wood).However,his philosophy is often contrasted with the precepts of the philosophies of Utilitarianism. This essayintendstogivecontrastthephilosophiesofKantwiththephilosophiesof Utilitarianism. The major philosophies of Kant are grouped under the heading “Kantianism” and this particular genre is used to give a broader overview of the moral philosophies of Kant. In the moral philosophy of Kant the rightness or the wrongness of a particular action is decided on the basis of the action concerned and not on the end result (Kant). It is interesting to note that thefeelingsinvolvedinthecourseoftheactionortheprocessarenottakeninto consideration by Kant. It is a reflection of this thought process that Kant says “It is not necessary that whilst I live I live happily; but it is necessary that so long as I live I should live honourably” (Kant). Therefore, the various theories as well as the philosophies of Kant have come under much criticism in the recent times. Another major precept of the philosophies of Kant is his over-reliance on the reason or the intellectualism of the human beings. Thus, he says in his famous work “Critique of Pure Reason”, “Whereas the beautiful is limited, the sublime is limitless, so that the mind in the presence of the sublime, attempting to imagine what it cannot, has pain in the failure but pleasure in contemplating the immensity of the
2KANTIANISM AND UTILITIARINISM attempt” (Kant). The philosophies related to Utilitarianism, on the other hand, consider that the rightness or the wrongness of a particular action depends on the amount of good or utility which it does to the maximum number of people (Mill). Therefore, for this particular school of philosophers the actions involved in a particular event matter the most as well as the final outcome. It isto be noted thatin the present timesvariousscholarshave used the philosophies of Kant to justify war, abortion and other actions of theirs. However, when they are viewed under the lens of Utilitarianism they become totally unjustified (Barrow). Thus, in the opinion of Leon Trotsky articulated in his famous work “Their Morals and Ours”, “The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end”. This particular statement of Trotsky is often seen as the inherent difference between the precepts of philosophiesof Kant and Utilitarianism(Barrow). Thisstatementof Trotsky is often contrasted with the remark of Kant which states that “Seek not the favor of the multitude; it is seldom got by honest and lawful means. But seek the testimony of few; and number not voices, but weigh them”. It is to be noted that the debate about the rightness and the wrongness of a particular action when under the lens of the two schools of philosophies seem to conflict with each other. Therefore, from the above discussion it becomes clear that although the philosophies of Kant as well as the Utilitarianism are considered two important parts of the subject of philosophy yet there are some inherent differences between the two schools of philosophical thoughts. It is interesting to note that a particular action when seen under the lens of the philosophies of Kant becomes justified however when the same action is seen under the lens of the philosophies of Utilitarianism it becomes unjustified and vice versa. Therefore, the rightness or the wrongness of a particular action depends on the philosophy in which they are interoperated.
3KANTIANISM AND UTILITIARINISM References Barrow, Robin.Utilitarianism: A contemporary statement. Routledge, 2015. Kant, Immanuel.Fundamental principles of the metaphysics of morals. Courier Corporation, 2012. Kant, Immanuel.Kant: The metaphysics of morals. Cambridge University Press, 2017. Kant, Immanuel.Moral Law: Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Routledge, 2013. Mill, John Stuart. "Utilitarianism."Seven Masterpieces of Philosophy. Routledge, 2016. 337- 383. Wood, Allen. "The final form of Kant’s practical philosophy."Immanuel Kant. Routledge, 2017. 27-47.